U.S.-based venture fundraising continues at a strong clip in Q2: VCJ

U.S.-based venture fundraising appears to have continued at a rapid clip in the second quarter, with the capital commitments broadening beyond a small handful of mega funds.

Only one firm, Norwest Venture Partners, raised $700 million or more during the second quarter, as of late June, compared to five firms that raised $950 million or more in the first three months of the year, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters (publisher of VCJ and peHUB).

In the first quarter, the top five firms combined raised 59% of all money closed by U.S. firms during the period. The top five firms in the second quarter through June 22 collectively raised 42% of all capital commitments.

Fundraising so far in the second quarter totals nearly $7.2 billion, which was raised by 64 firms large and small. While this is down about 20 percent from the nearly $9.1 billion raised by 69 firms in the first quarter, it is more than double the amount raised in the second quarter of 2013, according to the data.

The most recent quarter is the second in a row to break out from last year’s quarterly range of $3.3 billion to $4.9 billion.

Most notable is that capital concentration has fallen. Norwest’s 12th fund of $1.2 billion was the only fund in the second quarter, based on preliminary data, that exceeded $1 billion. In comparison, four funds of $1 billion or more were raised in the first quarter by Technology Crossover Ventures, Founders Fund, Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz while Lightspeed Venture Partners raised $950 million for its 10th fund during the period..

Instead more firms, such as Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, RRE Ventures, True Ventures and Greycroft Partners, raised funds between $200 million and $375 million in Q2.

Along with Norwest, the top funds to close in the second quarter were Bain Capital Venture Partners, which raised $650 million, and GGV Capital, which collected $621.92 million.

This story first appeared in Reuters Venture Capital Journal. Subscribers can read the original story here. To subscribe to VCJ and other venture-related research products, click here for the Marketplace.